A record number of African countries are included in the 2005 edition of World Press Trends which was released this week by the World Association of Newspapers. The circulation of newspapers in the world increased strongly last year, at the same time as newspaper advertising revenues made significant gains.

"It has been an extraordinarily positive 12 months for the global newspaper industry," said Timothy Balding, Director General of the Paris-based WAN. "We have come to expect big circulation gains in developing countries, but it has been a very long time since we saw such a revival in so many mature markets. Newspapers are clearly undergoing a renaissance through new products, new formats, new titles, new editorial approaches, better distribution and better marketing."

RAP 21 spoke to Tatiana Repkova, editor of World Press Trends about the report and what it tells us about the African newspaper market of today.

RAP 21: How many African countries were included in World Press Trends 2005 report?

Tatiana Repkova: Fifty-five, that is all African countries where newspapers are published. There are only 11 territories in Africa where we haven’t found any newspapers being published: Bassas da India, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Europa Island, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Glorioso Island, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Juan de Nova Island, Mayotte and Tromelin Island.

RAP 21: What were some specific African trends that appeared in the report?

Tatiana Repkova: A stable number of daily newspapers in most countries where they already exist; a growing number of daily newspaper titles in 2004 compared to 2003 can be seen in Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Tunisia; and declining number of daily newspaper titles in Comoros, Morocco and Zimbabwe. However, it is non-daily newspapers which represent a major part of newspaper titles in most African countries.

RAP 21: Were any findings in particular African media markets surprising?

Tatiana Repkova: Yes. For example, Sao Tome and Principe with population of 182,000 has a daily newspaper ’Tela Non - Diario de Sao Tome and Principe’. On the other hand, Chad with population of 9.5 million has no daily newspaper, and neither does Rwanda with 8 million people, or Eritrea with 4.5 million inhabitants.

RAP 21: Which countries in Africa would you have like to have found more information on for the report?

Tatiana Repkova: We have a sufficient amount of information only from South Africa due to Print Media SA, the WAN member organisation. There is a permanent deficiency of market data from all other African countries, including those available at public sources. There is also a very large gap in data sources on Western Sahara.

RAP 21: How can the findings in the report help African newspaper publishers and editors in practice?

Tatiana Repkova: Seeing a complete picture of newspaper market in Africa can help to understand similarities and differences among particular regions and countries. Commentaries on particular country markets also include business ideas about newspaper management practices applicable elsewhere.

RAP 21 members with any up-to-date information on numbers of titles, circulation figures and newspaper launches or closures are encouraged to email Tatiana Repkova directly at: trepkova@wan.asso.fr

Additional global trends found in the report include:
  The trend from broadsheet to compact format is accelerating, with a record 56 such switches in 2004
  36 percent of newspapers are now published in compact format and the number has increased by 2 percent in 12 months
  The total number of daily titles was up 2 percent in the world in 2004 and up 4.6 percent since 2000
  2004 saw the best advertising performance in four years, with a revenue increase of 5.3 percent

Trends in circulation:
  The audience for newspaper web sites grew 32 percent last year - 350 percent over the last five years
  The total circulation of dailies in the world climbed 2.1 percent in 2004. Over five years, it is up 4.8 percent
  Sales of newspapers increased in 44 percent of the countries surveyed and were stable in a further 12 percent; 31 percent of those markets show a rise over five years
  More than 395 million people buy a newspaper every day, up from 374 million in 1999
  Average readership is estimated to be more than one billion people each day
  Three-quarters of the worlds 100 best selling dailies are now published in Asia; China has overtaken Japan as the country with the highest number of publications in the top 100

Trends in advertising:
  Global newspaper advertising revenues saw their biggest increase in five years and were up 5.3 percent in 2004, following a 2 percent increase in 2003
  Although newspaper advertising revenues are increasing in many markets, newspapers share of the world ad market declined from 30.5 percent in 2003 to 30.1 percent in 2004; but newspapers remain the worlds second largest advertising medium, after television, and are expected to retain this position for many years

Next week: African regional review Part I - Press Trends in West Africa